Remaster XP

Is there anything in Win that will allow me to install XP, do all the updates, and then remaster a new ISO or CD with the updates and settings included for future installs? This would be a great time saver for me as I tend to do frequent reinstalls of XP since I alternate between Linux and XP a lot. PCLinuxOS has this feature. You can install it, customize things, and then remaster a new live cd.

Is this what nLite is about? I have seen nLite mentioned a lot however I have never checked into it much, and it doesn't really seem like what I'm looking for, but I'm not sure...

nLite allows you to do everything you want except it does it to your windows install files. You can easily add the latest updates and tweak it to how you to like. You can even add pre-installed programs.

What i prefer to do is use acronis trueimage to make a backup image of my basics windows install with all the latest updates. If i need to reinstall windows i simply restore that image which only takes about 2 minutes.

Thanks everyone for all the info.. Ideally, I would like to burn a customized install of XP to CD if possible, so thanks Farmerlee for that.. I think that's what I need.

Also the image idea is fine, however, I would need to create a partition to store it on I guess, and I am limited on disk space to some extend, only 40 gigs here, and 25 of it is in a separate partition already for my mp3's. So that doesn't leave me much room on the HD. But it's possible I guess.. I have done it before when I had a little more space.. So thanks also Long View.

And also thanks to Steve, I will check out the link and info now.

Actually, the image idea is probably best if I can come up with the HD space..

I created an ISO file of my original WinXPproSP2-CD with Alcohol120%, so I can reproduce this CD numerous times, even when the original is damaged.

nLite however creates a customized WinXPproSP2-CD and this is alot better than the original one. This is of course only usefull when you re-install your computer from scratch. Nevertheless I'm planning to use nLite for that purpose, because I'm going to re-install my computer in september.
nLite has so many settings (about 20 pages), that you better prepare this on paper (screenshots) in order to remember which settings you changed.

Creating images is also usefull, if you can keep them CLEAN. I will certainly do this during the re-install, although it gets harder to do this completely OFF-LINE, because more and more softwares require internet to install them properly, including activation.
I hate to go ON-LINE when I install Windows and all my softwares and I can only hope that I don't get infected during these short on-line moments.
Don't these software developers know yet, that internet is full of infections ?

Thanks everyone for all the info.. Ideally, I would like to burn a customized install of XP to CD if possible, so thanks Farmerlee for that.. I think that's what I need.

Also the image idea is fine, however, I would need to create a partition to store it on I guess, and I am limited on disk space to some extend, only 40 gigs here, and 25 of it is in a separate partition already for my mp3's. So that doesn't leave me much room on the HD. But it's possible I guess.. I have done it before when I had a little more space.. So thanks also Long View.

And also thanks to Steve, I will check out the link and info now.

Actually, the image idea is probably best if I can come up with the HD space..

Click to expand...

Making an image of the basic windows install with latest updates doesn't require a huge amount of space. After i've fully updated my windows i remove all the junk files including the update uninstall files, this frees up quite a bit of space. I actually store my backup image on a bootable usb flashdrive, this ensures it is kept safe from harm.

I use nLite to add all current updates and then customize the install. There are numerous tweaks that can be applied before creating a new ISO that most people here would end up googling for and applying manually to the registry or through registry tweaking programs. It saves massive amounts of time.

Then, I use an imaging program to store the fresh install.

Don't limit yourself to just one method. Both can be used in conjunction with each other and are very useful and save time.

Maybe you should think about investing in a USB hard drive to store images. You can unplug it when not needed and even if your disk goes belly up on you, you still have an image to restore onto a new drive and you can be up and running in no time.

Have you ever used nLite? It's a very easy program to use. nLite does pretty much everything this does and more (like removing unnecessary windows components without ill effects). Spending $29 for a pretty program that doesn't do as much as nLite does is rather silly.

Is there anything in Win that will allow me to install XP, do all the updates, and then remaster a new ISO or CD with the updates and settings included for future installs? This would be a great time saver for me as I tend to do frequent reinstalls of XP since I alternate between Linux and XP a lot. PCLinuxOS has this feature. You can install it, customize things, and then remaster a new live cd.

Is this what nLite is about? I have seen nLite mentioned a lot however I have never checked into it much, and it doesn't really seem like what I'm looking for, but I'm not sure...

Click to expand...

What you need to look up is slipstreaming. This allows you to do most (if not all of what you need), this is not something I have done myself.

Just wanted to thank everyone for all the info and helpful replies.. I have, for now, just decided to install XP and stick with it, but if I ever get back to distro hopping again, I will most likely just partition the HD as needed and do an image of my setup. Seems like the quickest way to go.

Is there anything in Win that will allow me to install XP, do all the updates, and then remaster a new ISO or CD with the updates and settings included for future installs? This would be a great time saver for me as I tend to do frequent reinstalls of XP since I alternate between Linux and XP a lot.